I never paid much attention to the Kardashian family and I certainly never thought I had anything in common with them. But now I suddenly have a connection with Kim Kardashian – we have both experienced the chaos of life… Read More ›
Mental health
ANXIETY AND THE CORONAVIRUS – BY ELLIN CURLEY
I’ve had an anxiety disorder for as long as I can remember. As a child, I would worry about everything and was afraid of almost everything. My mother, a trained child psychologist, tried to give me a form of cognitive… Read More ›
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? – BY TOM CURLEY
This was the cover of the March 5th, 2017 “New York Daily News.” It wasn’t newsworthy when it became the cover of the Daily News. Everyone knew our ”Commander In Chief“ was nuts and most of us had known it… Read More ›
WHAT A DAY FOR NEWS JUNKIES! — Marilyn Armstrong
I admit it. By the end of about six hours of impeachment testimony, I knew I’d never survive the Democratic debate. Also, Garry said he’d leave home if I didn’t change the channel — which I was intending to do… Read More ›
A BIPOLAR LIFE – BY ELLIN CURLEY
My first husband, Larry, was bipolar, but he wasn’t diagnosed until thirteen years into our 25-year marriage. However, the ups and downs were a part of my life from the beginning. Larry could be fun, smart and affectionate. He had… Read More ›
KEEPING THE WATCH – Marilyn Armstrong
FOWC with Fandango — Watch Lately, I’ve been convinced there’s a brain tumor in my head, so I was glad to get to the neurologist. Finally. We always laugh at how gorgeous TV doctors are. This one could go directly to… Read More ›
LET THE CHILDREN PLAY – BY ELLIN CURLEY
The title of an article I read in the Washington Post on September 16, 2018, by Katherine Marsh, sets out its primary argument pretty clearly. “ We’ve so over-scheduled our kids that doctors are now prescribing playtime.” The article is… Read More ›
TEENAGE SEXUAL ASSAULT – BY ELLIN CURLEY
Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been nominated to the Supreme Court and has been accused of attempted rape as a seventeen year old. This has precipitated a national debate over acceptable teenage behavior. Kavanaugh’s enablers have several, typical defenses for him…. Read More ›
ONCE UPON A TIME … – Marilyn Armstrong
FOWC with Fandango — Erratic Once upon a time, I was a total wacko. That is not an exaggeration. In my late teens, I was nuts. Big time. Fortunately, by the time I hit my twenties, I had settled a lot… Read More ›
WHINING AND RESIGNING – Marilyn Armstrong
I’m not going to do it. I want to. I need a good whine. . Because we all have days like this. The kind of day when by the end of it, you want to resign. Not from blogging, but… Read More ›
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL – BY ELLIN CURLEY
A lot has been written about dieting and body image. What interests me is how we develop our body image in childhood and how this image haunts us through life. Here’s an innocuous example. I’m short. Very short. I’m less… Read More ›
NO TIME TO SLEEP – Marilyn Armstrong
Brain to Marilyn: Hey, get up. I’ve got stuff to do. Marilyn to Brain: Shut up. I’m tired. Let me sleep or I swear I’ll take a pill and shut you down. Brain (sullen): Fine. Be that way. Marilyn drifts off… Read More ›
QUICK AND EASY STRESS CONTROL – PART 4
This is the final part of a four-part series. You can read the others here: Part I, Part 2, Part 3. Stress Everyday stress is a killer. Literally. The greatest damage from stress is caused by excessive triggering of the… Read More ›
QUICK AND EASY STRESS CONTROL – PART 3
I ‘ve talked about breathing and visualization as relaxation techniques. This week, I’d like to add a third element – movement. Coordinating breath and movement can calm you down, center you, clear your head, and focus your mind, and help the relaxation… Read More ›
QUICK AND EASY STRESS CONTROL – PART 2
Last week, I talked about using controlled breathing to turn off the “Fight or Flight Response” in your body and minimize the harmful effects of stress on your body. You can build on that to reduce stress even more. MIND AND BODY… Read More ›
QUICK AND EASY STRESS CONTROL – PART 1
I was a Yoga teacher for eight years. My training taught me a lot about the interrelationship between the mind and the body, on a physiological, scientifically explainable level. Using that knowledge, I compiled some quick and easy stress control… Read More ›
AHEAD OF HIS TIMES – ELLIN CURLEY
Most of us believe that our current beliefs have been our beliefs forever. Of course we know that germs cause disease and that the earth is round. But people didn’t always know these concepts as “facts”. We once thought the earth was flat… Read More ›
FREUD AND MY FATHER, PART 1 – ELLIN CURLEY
(All quotes are from my father’s book, “My Analysis With Freud, Reminiscences”, by A. Kardiner, M.D.) My father’s first contact with Sigmund Freud was a letter he received in 1921 accepting him as a student of Freud’s in Vienna. My… Read More ›
POLITICAL DEMENTIA
I have to go to the hospital today for a brain scan. Presumably they will discover I have some. Brains, that is. Meanwhile, I will again be missing from today’s action. Life keeps getting in the way of blogging. I… Read More ›
LIVING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS – BY ELLIN CURLEY
Carrie Fisher was Bi-polar. To her credit, she talked about her condition openly and honestly. She brought attention to the disorder and tried to reduce the stigma associated with this, as well as other, mental illnesses. It’s sad that we… Read More ›
PARENTAL ANIMAL PHOBIAS – BY ELLIN CURLEY
My father was afraid of horses, so of course I had to learn how to ride. I was terrified of snakes, so my son has had a lifelong fascination with reptiles. Not surprising. My father witnessed someone being kicked by… Read More ›
IT’S EXPONENTIAL, DR. WATSON – BY TOM CURLEY
I’m not the first person to see this, but have any of you noticed that 2018 seems like 2017 on steroids? January is barely half over, and it seems like over a half-year has gone by. In 2017, we experienced… Read More ›
YOU CAN’T COMPETE WITH CRAZY – BY TOM CURLEY
The world we live in today is crazy. Some might argue it’s always been crazy. I can’t disagree. It has. But we are in a world of crazy that is … wait for it … unprecedented. Hell, we have been… Read More ›
UNHINGED, UNFIT, AND UNBELIEVABLE – BY TOM CURLEY
I’ve learned to write thoughts down when I have them these days. Mostly because I’ll forget those thoughts ten seconds after I have them. Unless I’m really stoned. Then I forget them about three and half seconds after I have… Read More ›
